“Maybe.” replied John.
“Send the photo to him through your phone. I am sure he can authenticate it for you and perhaps then you will believe me.” she said, pulling out a cigarette from her purse and putting it to her lips. John got up and pulled out a lighter and lit her cigarette. John snapped his lighter back into his pocket and went near the window, with her phone in his hand. He tapped his own phone to her phone and the image was transferred. He sent the image to Drake and then called him.
“Drake, you still up?” said John, after Drake had answered his call.
“John, I am always awake for you.” said Drake, in a muffled tone. He was clearly sleeping.
“Drake, I have sent you a photo. I need you to check its authenticity. Make it quick.” said John, and Drake agreed to it. John figured that it would take Drake a minute or two to get back to him. He returned to the living room to find that the Lipstick Woman was still sitting on the sofa, and still not dressed. John looked outside the window into the night. The sky was not as clear as John would have liked it to be.
John kept thinking about the kind of work the Lipstick Woman was doing. He was also curious to know a bit more about the contents of the five containers that she was after. John was inclined to believe that she was a good person. At least, as good as the people he was running into over the last few days. His phone rang and Drake was on the line.
“John. I could only do a basic analysis and will probably need more time. The photo is authentic enough. Who is the hot woman in the picture?” asked Drake.
“Well, she is the one who is offering herself to me, in turn for a favor. She is sitting here without her clothes on by the way.” said John.
“Given that you switch off everything when you are working, do you want me to come over there and take care of business?” asked Drake.
“Thanks for the offer Drake but we just don’t have time for any games right now. Thank you and I will speak to you later.” said John, hanging up.
John knew that Drake was kidding about coming over. Getting Drake to go out of his place was in itself a huge feat. Now that the photo was cleared to be authentic, John started to piece together everything that the Lipstick Woman had done so far. John decided to take a risk and trust her and see where it went. In the worst case scenario, he would have to be rescued again by Sheila. Best case scenario, he would get considerably closer to finding the missing Luck guy. Having made up his mind, John returned to the living room and returned to his seat opposite to the Lipstick Woman.
“Alright. Your photo checks out. What do we do now?” asked John.
“Glad you are on board detective. We need to go and meet this inspector guy in two hours. The place is about an hour’s drive from here. That leaves us an hour to do whatever we want. Any ideas in your head detective as to how we can spend this spare hour at our disposal?” asked the Lipstick Woman.
“Well, unless you want to help do my laundry, I suggest you wear your clothes and we drive to that place. I would like to be early, rather than late when working.” said John. Then he added, “Of course, if you want to continue to walk to around without your clothes, I won’t object.”
“You are some kind of guy detective, to avoid me like this. Guess some guys really aren’t into play when they are working.” she said, getting up. She got up and picked her clothes and turned to face John. She started wearing her clothes, one piece at a time. John would not admit it but it was quite a turn on for him. She took her own sweet time to get dressed, and ten minutes later they were both in John’s car, driving to the destination she was talking about. John was doing the driving and she was sitting next to him.
“Thanks for coming along, detective. I am starting to think that perhaps showing up in your apartment and sitting on your sofa without clothes on was a mistake.” she said.
“That’s okay. You seem like a nice woman. It would really help me if you could tell me who you are and what your interest in all this is.” said John, trying to elicit some information from her.
“I am afraid detective, that is something I cannot tell you. Our deal is a simple one. You help me with the shipment containers and I help you with your guy. Anything other than that is beyond our deal. I am afraid I cannot let you in on that stuff.” she said.
“What is the plan now? What do we do once we reach this place you are talking about?” asked John, continuing to keep an eye on the road. It was almost midnight and the streets were quiet. They had driven out of the city and were on one of the highways that led to the next city.
“The inspector is staying at this motel. In exactly an hour from now, he will be visited by one of the men who works for Mr. Dragon. This man will hand over the codes relating to the five containers that I am interested in.” she said.
“This inspector will receive information that will tell him which of the twenty-four containers have this shipment that you are after. Am I right?” asked John.
“That is correct. Our job is simple. Wait for the messenger to give him the container codes. Then, we will over-power and put him to sleep for a few hours, and you will start impersonating him while he is asleep. If you remember the conversation that you heard through the receiver I gave you, nobody in the Dragon Empire has seen the inspector in person. Mr. Dragon no longer wants to deal with any individuals. There was this incident a week ago and since then, we have switched to a mysterious system of codes. It makes impersonating easier, but the information is so convoluted that no one has much of a clue.” she said.
“Except you.” said John.
“I am in the inner circle and it is hard to get into the inner circle, so that does not count. Once you have impersonated the inspector, we will use the information provided and travel to the docks. I have five tracking gadgets with me. You job is to identify each of the containers, act like an inspector and place these tracking devices on the containers. Once the trackers are up and running, and I have confirmed that they are active, your job is done. That is when I will tell you about the missing man, Mr. Luck, and that will be the end of the story. Unless of course, you want to call me over to play patient and doctor.” said the Lipstick Woman.
“That seems clear enough. I have one question though.” said John, pointing out the obvious flaw in the plan.
“I was sure that there would be one question, at least.” she replied.
“The docks are heavily guarded. Given the clandestine nature of your boss, Mr. Dragon’s operations, I am guessing that I am supposed to break into the docks. There is every chance that if I get caught, I would be on my own.” said John.
“You won’t be completely alone, John. I will be with you, if you don’t mind me tagging along like a side kick in some action movie. I assure you, I won’t be baggage to you. After watching you getting rescued by your own assistant, and considering that you were lying on a hospital bed less than twenty four hours earlier, I believe it is a good idea for me go with you.” she said.
John nodded and continued to drive, as per the directions she was giving. Just as she had said, an hour later they had reached their destination. It was a motel that was located on one side of the highway. There were a total of twelve rooms, all laid out like camping tents in a national park. Except for the one room at the very end, no other room lights were switched on. John parked his car in an empty parking spot and stepped outside. The Lipstick Woman did the same, and she walked towards the reception. John followed her, but did not enter the reception area with her.
He waited as she went in, did some talking, and came outside with a door key hanging by her fingers. They both then walked toward the nearest room and stepped in. Once inside, she quickly bolted the doors and kept the room dark. John sat on one of the two chairs and she sat on the bed. The occasional passing of a truck or a car on the highway shed some light in the room every now and then.
As John sat down, the Lipstick Woman flipped her phone
open and turned on the flash on it. It was a small source of light, and she used it to sweep the entire room. She checked the ceiling, the floor, under the bed, the cabinets and every nook and corner of the room. She spent a good ten minutes on that, but seemed to be checking the same spots again and again. All of this only made John more curious about her role in the mystery that he was investigating. How did a young woman like her end up in a business like this? What did she want with the containers and what was so special about those five containers? John was hoping to get some answers when they reached the docks. He had given up on getting any information from her.
“John, we should move to the terrace of this building. I know the fire escape ladder that leads to the top of the terrace. Here, take these night vision enabled binoculars. We will need them once we reach the top.” said the Lipstick Woman, handing him the binoculars.
She also pulled out another identical set of binoculars and hung it around her neck like a purse. John did the same and nodded, indicating that he was in agreement with her. She then lifted the window pane up and slipped out quietly. John followed her in an equally quiet manner. Once they were out of the room, John noticed that she was sprinting toward a ladder that was a few meters away. John also broke into a sprint, but he stopped almost as quickly as he had started. His wounds, which were still healing, were hurting him slightly.
He stopped running and started walking toward the ladder. By the time John reached the ladder, the Lipstick Woman was already on the terrace and waving to him, beckoning him to come up. John decided against being a hero, and climbed slowly, respecting his injuries. He remembered what the doctor had said. He would need at least another few days before he was fully fit. Once on top, they both laid down flat on their stomachs, with the binoculars in front of their eyes.
“John, do you see that room with the light still on?” she asked, pointing at the one room which still had its light on.
“I see it.” replied John.
“That is the room where the inspector is staying. Rather, he is just here to meet the messenger, who will carry the container codes with him. The messenger will go outside the room, drop off his package and leave. The inspector will then pick up that package. The messenger will probably stay in his car until the inspector gives him a signal that everything is fine. After that, the messenger will leave and that is when we will make our move.” said the Lipstick Woman.
“That means, we have nothing to do but wait.” said John, putting his binoculars aside.
“That is correct detective. We have nothing to do, but wait. Although, we are only about ten minutes early and the messenger’s car should be here in a short while.” said the Lipstick Woman.
“Okay, Lipstick Woman. We wait.” said John, turning and lying flat on his back. The Lipstick Woman continued to keep her eyes focused on the road that led into the motel. John kept looking at the stars, his mind going back to his stay at the University. He started thinking about how simple life was. Whenever he had time to spare, he would climb up the terrace in his hostel and spend up to a couple of hours on it, trying to figure out the beauty behind the calmness of the night sky. John loved the way the stars twinkled. Every now and then, just as it did now, a thick cloud would move across to block his view of the twinkling stars. He must have been lost in his thoughts for a while, and was startled when the Lipstick Woman touched his shoulder and drew his attention.
“Hey John! Our messenger is here.” she said.
John turned around and put the binoculars over his eyes. He was glad that the Lipstick Woman gave him the night vision gadgets for the messenger’s car was driving with its lights off. As they watched, the car moved slowly toward the room with the light still on. The light window wasn’t enough to light up the parking spots, so everything was still very dark. A person in a dark grey suit stepped outside, and dropped a cigarette on the ground and stamped it with his shoes. He closed the door and walked silently to the door with the lights still on. The man had a briefcase in his hands, which he placed right in front of the door. He knocked on the door twice, paused for a minute, and knocked two more times. The lights inside the room went out.
The moment the lights went out, the messenger returned to his car. The briefcase was still in front of that door. He started his car and then drove it away from the motel. Even as John and the Lipstick Woman watched, the car drove away a few hundred meters and stopped. Next, the door of the room that they were watching opened and a hand became visible. The hand picked up the briefcase and disappeared. The car was still standing. A few minutes passed and nothing seemed to happen. Then, the light in the room was switched on again. As if responding to that, the car on the other side drove away with its headlights still turned off. The two observers on the terrace kept an eye on it until it disappeared into the night.
“John, this is our chance. Let’s go.” she said, getting up.
“I am right behind you.” said John, also getting up.
The Lipstick Woman started sprinting, softly on the terrace, toward that room which was their target. John walked as fast as he could, not keen to hurt his body even more than absolutely necessary. They stopped after reaching the top of the room the inspector was in. The Lipstick Woman motioned John to be quiet and she quickly climbed down the terrace and dropped onto the ground, at the back of the room. As John watched from the terrace, he noticed that she pulled out a key from her pocket.
Even as he watched, she used the key to open backdoor of the room. She did not open it all the way though. She looked up and beckoned John to climb down. John nodded and climbed down and was next to her in just a few moments. She held the back door open just large enough so they could see what was going on inside.
They saw that a small candle was burning in the room. A man, wearing a blue t-shirt and matching jeans was standing next to the bed. An open briefcase was in front of him. He was holding a set of papers in his hand. He was checking them one by one, and John noticed that there were a total of five set of papers. He placed the papers back in the briefcase and snapped it shut. Then he turned away from the back door, not realizing that two people were watching him. The moment he turned, the Lipstick Woman spoke into John’s ears.
“Let’s grab him.”
John moved quickly despite his injuries and grabbed him from behind, with one hand folding his arms and the other on his mouth. The Lipstick Woman quickly pulled out a small syringe box from her pocket, from which she drew out a syringe.
“Hold him steady.” she said, pushing a needle softly into the arm of the person that John was holding in his grip. She then put the needle, which was spent now, back in the syringe box.
“Place him on the bed, detective.” she said, sitting on the bed next to the briefcase.
John did as she said, and sat on the space next to the briefcase, on the other side. The Lipstick Woman, lifted the candle off the floor and looked at the briefcase. Then she reached into the pocket of the now unconscious inspector to remove the briefcase key. She used it to open the in no time.
She grabbed the same five sheets that the inspector was looking at a few minutes ago, and the documents seemed to be legit. She handed them over to John, who folded them and placed them in his pockets. With their job done, the two stepped outside through the same back door. She locked the door and they walked back to the back door of their own room. Once inside the room, she secured the door locks and joined John on the bed and started studying the papers.
“Okay detective. We are doing just fine. These are the papers that will lead us to the containers we are looking for.” she said with a satisfied expression on her face.
“You want me to take his clothes so I look more like him?” asked John.
“That won’t be necessary detective. Your current appearance will do. Now, that we know the container codes, our next stop has to be the docks. How are you feeling? The injuries?” she asked.
“I
think I am okay. I just cannot run fast but I am fine. Nothing a good night’s sleep cannot fix.” said John.
“That’s good enough for me. Get the car running detective. I will return the room keys to the reception and be with you in a few minutes.” said she, rummaging through her hair and ruffling up her clothes a bit. John thought it was a bit weird.
“I want the boys at the reception to think that we had sex detective. Trying to allay any suspicions about why a couple came, did nothing and left.” she answered, looking at his facial expression.
“Alright.” said John, pushing the papers back into his pockets and heading to the car. He walked to the car and started the engine. He watched from a distance as she walked to the reception cabin. John noticed that she was walking a little differently, like a woman who was tired after a hot session of intercourse. He could see that she was a pretty good actress. John could not help but continue to be impressed with her. A few minutes passed and then he watched her as she exited the reception, walked to the car, and got in. Once she had her seat belt on John switched gears and took off toward the docks.
“I already have information on the vessel that our five containers are being loaded on. I know a man at the docks who will help us and lead us to the port, which as you know, is a fairly guarded place. The same man will lead us to the container vessel. Once on the vessel though, we would be on our own, John. I don’t know if you have dealt with cargo security before. Stepping unauthorized on a ship is like trespassing into a bank’s vault. There is every chance that we might get shot.” said the Lipstick Woman.
“We just have to be careful.” said John, focusing on the road and thinking about the task at hand.
They reached the dock in about twenty minutes, and John had stopped the car at a spot indicated by the Lipstick Woman. They got down and she made a call. A minute later, a man wearing a head cap and a full beard joined them. John tried to figure out who he was, but couldn’t. The Lipstick Woman handed him an envelope, which looked like it contained cash. The man with the beard smiled and motioned them to follow him, without speaking a word. They both followed him through what looked like a scrap yard. At a distance, John could hear the noise from the dock. John figured that they were still pretty far from the actual dock. Soon enough, they came to a manhole cover. The bearded man bent down and dragged the cover off the manhole. For the first time since they met, the man spoke.
UNDERCOVER The Secret of Luck Page 24
